Method and apparatus for composing 3d photographs

ABSTRACT

A 3D photographic printer uses a monochrome panel for displaying two or more images for composing a 3D photograph. Each image has a plurality of color image components. A light source with selectable color light components is used to illuminate the monochrome panel corresponding to the displayed color image components. The images are displayed at different locations so that these images can be projected onto a 3D print material through a projection lens at different projection angles. With the digital display device, it is possible to electronically locate the images at different locations and shift the images or mechanically moving the display device during the 3D photographic composing process. It is also possible that only the print material is mechanically shifted to different locations. The display device and the projection lens can be stationary.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/931,564, filed Feb. 3, 2011; this application isalso a Continuation-In-Part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/928,885, filed Jan. 27, 2013, which is a Continuation-in-Part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/931,564.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to 3D photographic printing and,in particular, to an optical method for composing 3D photos.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A lenticular-typed 3D photograph has a lenticular sheet disposed on topof an image sheet. On the image sheet, a plurality of compressed imagesare formed in an interleaving manner. In the simplest form, thecompressed images are composed of two views, a right view and a leftview. As shown in FIG. 1, the compressed images of the left view aredenoted as LI, and the compressed images of the right view are denotedas RI. When the compressed images are aligned with the lenticulesdisposed on top of the image sheet, the lenticules separate the leftview from the right view. As such, the left eye (LE) of a viewer canonly see the left view and the right eye (RE) can only see the rightview. If the left view and the right view are the images of a scenetaken at two different angles, what the viewer sees from the 3D photo isa three-dimensional picture of the scene.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for composing a 3Dphotograph from two or more images. According to various embodiments ofthe present invention, the images are displayed at different locationsso that these images can be projected onto a 3D print material through aprojection lens or optical image forming device at different projectionangles.

In particular, the display device comprises a monochrome panel arrangeto display a monochrome image, illuminated by a light source which canbe controlled to provide one of a plurality of color light components ata time.

Thus, the first aspect of the present invention is an apparatus forproducing a 3D photograph, the apparatus, comprising:

a digital display device comprising an image display area located on afirst plane, the image display area arranged to display a plurality ofimages;

an optical image forming device located on a second plane spaced fromthe first plane, the optical image forming device arranged to projectthe images onto a print material at a plurality of projection angles;and

a light source configured to provide one of a plurality of color lightcomponents to illuminate the digital display device at a time, whereineach of the images comprises a plurality of color image componentscorresponding to the plurality of color light components, and whereinthe digital display device comprises a monochrome panel configured toreceive digital image data and the image display area is configured todisplay a monochrome image of one of the plurality of color imagecomponents at a time indicative of the digital image data, and whereinthe monochrome panel is located between the light source and the secondplane such that said one of the plurality of color components isprovided corresponding to said one of the plurality the color imagecomponents.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the monochrome panelcomprises a plurality of pixels arranged in a two dimensional array forforming the monochrome image, wherein each pixel comprises a pixel areaconfigurable to transmit light in response to the digital image data,said pixel area fixedly located in the pixel independently of the colorimage component.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the monochrome panelcomprises a liquid crystal display panel.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the color image componentscomprise red, green and blue image components, and the color lightcomponents comprise red, green and blue light components.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus furthercomprises a holder configured to hold the print material on a thirdplane spaced from the second plane and substantially parallel to thefirst plane such that the second plane is located between the firstplane and the third plane, wherein two of image display area, theoptical image forming device and the print material are arranged toshift substantially parallel to the third plane for changing theprojection angle.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus comprises acolor selection device configured to select one of a plurality of colorlight components to illuminate the digital display device at a time.

In embodiments of the present invention, the plurality of imagescomprise photographic images of a scene taken at different viewingangles; one or more computer graphic images; and/or one or more textimages, herein said plurality of images comprise a first image and asecond image, and each of the first image and the second image comprisesan alignment point, wherein the digital display device is configured forelectronically shifting at least one of the first image and the secondimage in the image display area such that a projection image of thefirst image and a projection image of the second image are aligned onthe print material at the alignment point.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the image display area isdimensioned to display two or more of said plurality of images at two ormore locations.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the digital display devicecomprises one or more additional monochrome panels located on differentlocations on the first plane.

In embodiments of the present invention, the optical forming devicecomprises a single aperture adjusted such that the projection image ofeach of said plurality of images is formed through said single aperture,or a plurality of lenses arranged on the second plane such that each ofthe lenses is used to project one of said plurality of images.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the print material comprisesa plurality of lenticules, each of the lenticules having a lenticulebase, and wherein the projection image of each of said plurality ofimages is caused to form a different compressed image having an imagewidth at the lenticular base, wherein the different projection angle isadjusted so as to extend the image width of the different compressedimage, wherein the different projected angle is adjusted by shifting atleast two of the digital display device, the optical image formingdevice and the printed material, or the different projected angle isadjusted by electronically shifting each of the images on the displayarea and mechanically shifting one of the optical image forming deviceand the printed material, or the number of images.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the print material comprisesa lenticular screen, a photosensitive emulsion and a backing layer,wherein the backing layer is porous to processing chemicals so as toallow the processing chemicals to reach the photosensitive emulsionthrough the backing layer.

The second aspect of the present invention is a method for operating thedigital display device, the optical image forming device and the lightsource for producing a 3D photograph.

The present invention will become apparent upon reading the descriptiontaken in conjunction with FIGS. 2A to 18.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a typical lenticular-typed 3D picture.

FIGS. 2A to 2C show a 3D photo composing process, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A-3C show the compressed images under the lenticules at variouscomposing stages.

FIG. 4 shows the compressed images in relation to the width of thelenticule and the aperture of the enlarging lens.

FIG. 5 shows a 3D photo composing process, according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A shows three images are displayed at three different locations onthe display device, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6B shows three images are displayed at three different locations onthe display device, according to another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6C shows three images are displayed at three different locations onthe display device, according to yet another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6D shows our images are displayed at four different locations onthe display device.

FIG. 7A shows a possible misalignment of three displayed images forcomposing a 3D photo.

FIG. 7B shows the shifting of the displayed images for alignment.

FIG. 8A shows a display device, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8B shows a display device, according to another embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9A shows a method for filling the gaps in the compressed images,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9B shows a method for the filling the gaps in the compressedimages, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9C shows a method for the filling the gaps in the compressedimages, according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a method for filling the gaps in thecompressed images, according to yet another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10C illustrates filling the gaps in the compressed images withrepeated images.

FIG. 11A shows the tilting of the display device in order to reduce theMoire Effect, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11B shows the tilting of the print material in order to reduce theMoire Effect, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows a different embodiment of the 3D photographic printer,according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows various components in the 3D photographic printer,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14A-14E illustrate different methods for forming a plurality ofprojected images at different projection angles.

FIG. 15 illustrates a mechanical linkage for shifting two of the printercomponents for printing.

FIG. 16A illustrates blank spaces in pixels in an image.

FIG. 16B illustrated at least part of the blank spaces in pixels areeliminated.

FIG. 17 illustrates an image interpolation method, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a 3D printing process, according toone embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, in composing a lenticular-typed 3D photo, thephotosensitive emulsion under the lenticular screen or sheet must beexposed so that the compressed images of different views substantiallyfill the base of each lenticule. FIG. 1 shows a 3D photo wherein thecompressed images of two views are used to fill the entire base of thelenticules. In general, a 3D photo can be composed of the compressedimages of two, three, four or more different views. Depending on theoptical resolution of a 3D photo, tens or hundreds of different viewscan be presented in the form of compressed images.

To disclose the present invention, a 3D photo composed from three viewsis used for illustrating the method and apparatus for composing a 3Dphoto. According to various embodiments of the present invention, anapparatus 10 is used to make a 3D photo. The apparatus 10 comprises adigital image display device 20, an optical image forming device 40 anda holder to hold a printer material 60, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2C. Asshown in FIGS. 3A 3C, the print material 60 comprises a lenticularscreen 70, a photosensitive emulsion 80 and a substrate, a piece ofpaper, or a coating 90 to support the emulsion 80. The lenticular screen70 comprises a plurality of cylindrical lenses known as lenticules 72for compressing a projected image into compressed images 82, 84. Thedigital display device 20 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, alight-emitting diode (LED) panel, a plasma display panel or any displaypanel configured to receive digital image data and display the digitalimage data as images at different display locations. The digital displaydevice 20 is capable of displaying two or more images at a number ofdifferent display locations. The images can be displayed sequentiallyduring the 3D photo composing process. If the images are displayed innon-overlapped locations, the display device can be arranged tosimultaneously display those images at different locations.

Throughout the disclosure, the display device 20 is described as beingplaced on a first plane, the print material 60 is placed on a thirdplane and the optical image forming device is located on a second planebetween the first plane and the third plane (see FIG. 5). The firstplane and the third plane are substantially parallel to each other andto an XY plane (see FIGS. 11A and 11B). Thus, the first plane and thethird plane are also substantially perpendicular to the Z axis (seeFIGS. 2A-2C). In some embodiments of the present invention, the opticalimage forming device is required to be moved laterally in a secondplane, which is substantially parallel to the first plane (see FIGS. 5,9A and 9B, for example).

FIG. 2A shows the arrangement of the printing apparatus 10 when thefirst image 32 is displayed at the first location on the display device20 in order to project the image through the optical image formingdevice 40 onto the print material 60 at a first projection angle. At thefirst projection angle, the projected image on the print material 60 iscompressed into a plurality of compressed images 82 on the base thelenticules 72 of the lenticular screen 70, as shown in FIG. 3A. Whilekeeping the display device 20 and the optical image forming device 40stationary, the print material 60 is laterally shifted and the image 34is displayed at a second location on the display device 20 so that theimage 34 can be projected onto the print material 60 at a secondprojection angle, as shown in FIG. 2B. At this second projection angle,the projected image on the print material 60 is compressed into aplurality of compressed images 84 on the base the lenticules 72 of thelenticular screen 70, as shown in FIG. 3B. While keeping the displaydevice 20 and the optical image forming device 40 stationary, the printmaterial 60 is laterally shifted again and the image 36 is displayed ata third location on the display device 20 so that the image 36 can beprojected onto the print material 60 at a third projection angle, asshown in FIG. 2C. At this third projection angle, the projected image onthe print material 60 is compressed into a plurality of compressedimages 86 on the base of the lenticules 72 of the lenticular screen 70,as shown in FIG. 3C.

It should be noted that, depending on the angle θ of the lenticule asshown in FIG. 4, the compressed images 82, 84 and 86 may or may not beable to cover the entire base (W) of the lenticules 72. The width of thecompressed images is determined by Δθ, which is determined by theaperture A of the optical image forming device 40 and the distance V, asshown in FIG. 5. The total lenticular angle θ of a lenticule isdetermined by the geometry of the lenticule. As shown in FIG. 5, thedisplay device 20 is located on a first plane, the print material 60 islocated on a third plane, which is substantially parallel to the firstplane. The optical image forming device (or enlarging lens/lenses) 40 islocated on a second plane between the first plane and the third plane.In order to project the images onto the print material 60 at differentprojection angles, the print material is shifted to different locationson the third plane. As shown in FIG. 5, U is the distance between thefirst plane and the second plane and V is the distance between the thirdplane and the second plane. Thus, the magnification of the projection isV/U and the optical image forming device 40 is effectively an enlarginglens. Depending on the total lenticular angle θ and the compressionangle Δθ (FIG. 4), the aperture A of the optical image forming device 40can be adjusted to suit the number of images to be projected onto theprint material 60. Furthermore, depending upon the number of images tobe projected and the aperture of the enlarging lens the total lenticularangle θ, the different locations on the display device 20 may beoverlapped with each other (FIGS. 5, 6B) or separated from each other(FIGS. 2A-2C, 6A). In some cases, the different locations of the secondimage are adjacent to each other as shown in FIG. 6C. When three imagesare used to compose a 3D image, the three images can be images of ascene taken at three different angles, by one or more cameras or createdgraphics. However, the three images to be exposed onto the printmaterial can be unrelated images or texts or graphic arts, or thecombination thereof.

A 3D photo can be composed of the compressed images of more than threeimages. The number of images used in composing a 3D picture orphotograph can range from two to 100 or more, depending on theresolution of the lenticules, for example. As shown in FIG. 6 d, fourimages are displayed at four different locations on the display device20 in order to achieve four different projection angles. In this case,all four images displayed at four different locations can be fourdifferent views. However, it is possible that the images displayed atthe first and second locations are the same right view and the imagesdisplayed at the third and fourth locations are the same left view so asto compose a 3D photo as shown in FIG. 1.

It should be noted that, when one views a 3D photo, some objects in thephoto may appear in the plane of the photo, some objects may appearbehind the plane of the photo and some in front of the plane of thephoto. When composing a 3D photo, one of the objects that will appear onthe plane of the photo is selected as the key subject. For example, whencomposing a 3D photo of a scene of a person located between somebackground and some foreground objects, the person may be selected asthe key subject of the 3D photo. The key subjects in the images to beprojected onto the print material must be aligned so that the projectedimages of the key subject will be located substantially at one point onthe print material. This image alignment process is referred to askey-subject alignment. For example, three images 32, 34 and 36 aredisplayed sequentially or simultaneously at three different locations onthe display device 20 in order to compose a 3D photo as shown in FIG. 7a. The key subjects 132, 134 and 136 in these three images may not bealigned such that the projected images of the key subject are located atthe same point 160 on the print material 60 (FIG. 7B). In that case, itwould be necessary to shift the displayed images for key subjectalignment purposes. As shown in FIG. 7B, the displayed image 34 has beenshifted upward and to the left and the displayed image 36 has beenshifted upward for alignment purposes. According to one embodiment ofthe present invention, the shifting of the displayed images 34 and 36from the locations as shown FIG. 7A to FIG. 7B can be carried outelectronically, rather than mechanically. Thus, during the entirecomposition process, the display device 20 and the optical image formingdevice 40 can be kept stationary relative to each other and the keysubject alignment process can be achieved by shifting one or moredisplayed images digitally or electronically.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the display device 20comprises a single display panel as shown in FIG. 6A. As such, thesingle display panel has sufficient display area to display two or moreimages at two different locations sequentially or simultaneously. Inanother embodiment of the present invention, the display device 20comprises two or more display panels as shown in FIG. 8A. As shown inFIG. 8A, the display device 20 comprises three display panels 22, 24 and26, each of which is used to display one image, in a differentembodiment, the display device comprises two or more display panels, butone or more display panels can be used to display more than one image.As shown in FIG. 8B, while the display panel 22 is used to display oneimage at one the first location, the display panel 25 can be used todisplay images at the second and third locations.

As shown in FIG. 4, the compressed images 82, 84 and 86 cannot fill theentire base of the lenticule 72, leaving some gaps or blanks in the 3Dphoto. This will affect the quality of the 3D photo. It may be possibleto fill in the gaps by a number of ways. One is to widen the aperture ofthe optical image forming device. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the aperture of the optical image forming device 40 iseffectively widened by laterally shifting the optical image formingdevice 40 relative to the print material 60. As shown in FIG. 9A, theoptical image forming device 40 is shifted by a distance 140 while thedisplay device 20 is laterally shifted by a distance 120. The ratio ofthe distance 120 to the distance 140 is equal to (U+V)/V. The increasein Δθ is equal to the distance 140 divided by V. In a differentembodiment of the present invention, instead of shifting the displaydevice 20 by a distance 120, the displayed image 32 is electronicallyshifted by the distance 132 while the optical image forming device 40 islaterally shifted by a distance 140. As shown in FIG. 9B, the imageshifting distance 132 is equal to the device shifting distance 120. Assuch, there is no need to mechanically move the display device 20 duringthe entire composing process. It is understood that one or more of theother displayed images may also be mechanically or electronicallyshifted along with the shifting of the optical image forming device 40for gap filling purposes. In a different embodiment, instead of shiftingthe optical image forming device 40 by a distance 140, the printmaterial 60 is shifted by a distance 162, which is equal to the distance140 but in an opposition direction, as shown in FIG. 9C. Furthermore,the displayed image on the display device 20 is shifted by a distance132′ which is substantially equal to the distance 132 minus the distance140 (see FIG. 9B). As such, there is no need to mechanically move theoptical image forming device 40. The gap-filling method, as shown inFIG. 9C, is, in principle, equivalent to the method as shown in FIG.10B. It should be noted that, FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate various methods forfilling the gap in the base of the lenticules when a first displayedimage 32 is exposed onto the print material 60 (see FIG. 2A). Thesemethods can also be used to fill the gap when a second displayed image34 and a third displayed image 36 are exposed onto the print material 60as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C.

Another way to fill the gaps in a 3D photo is to increase the number, N,of images to be exposed such that N=θ/Δθ. For example, if two images 32and 34 are used to compose a 3D photo (see FIG. 10A) but the twocompressed images do not properly fill the entire base of thelenticules, it is possible to increase the number of the displayedimages to four in order to increase the number of compressed images tofour. In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 10B, the image 32 is repeatedlydisplayed at the first location and the second location and then theimage 34 is repeatedly displayed at the third location and the fourthlocation. Now the aperture of the optical image forming device isadjusted so that N=Δθ=θ/4. As such, the display device 20 can bestationary relative to the optical image forming device 40 and only theprint material is laterally shifted in order to change the projectionangles (see FIGS. 2A-2C). FIG. 10C shows

It should be noted that, the digital display device 20 is generallycomposed of a two-dimensional arrays of pixels for displaying a digitalimage. The pixels are organized in columns and rows (not shown). Forexample, the rows are parallel to the Y axis and the columns areparallel to the X axis, as shown in FIG. 11B. It should also be notedthat a lenticular screen is composed of a plurality of cylindricallenses or lenticules. If the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical lensesis also parallel to the Y axis, then a Moire pattern may appear in the3D photo. In order to reduce the Moire effect, it is possible to tiltthe print material slightly so that the longitudinal axis of thelenticules is no longer parallel to the Y axis, as shown in FIG. 11B. Inanother embodiment of the present invention, in stead of tilting theprint material 60, the display device 20 is slightly tilted, as shown inFIG. 11A.

In a different embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 12,the optical image forming device 40 comprises a plurality of projectionlenses or enlarging lenses 42. Each of the enlarging lenses 42 isfixedly located so that a plurality of images 32, 34, 36 and 38 can beexposed onto the print material 60 at different projection angles. Inthis embodiment, all the images can be simultaneously displayed on thedisplay device 20. The print material 60 is kept stationary relative tothe display device 20 and the optical image forming device 40 during theentire composition process. If the projection lenses 42 cannot bearranged such that the compressed images of images 32, 34, 36 and 38cannot fill the entire lenticule base (see FIG. 4), it is possible tofill the gaps by electronically shifting the images 32, 34, 36 and 38 onthe display device 20 and mechanically moving the print material 60 inopposite directions (see FIG. 9C).

FIG. 13 shows an apparatus for making 3D photographs, according to oneembodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 10, may be referredto as a 3D printer, comprises a display device 20, an optical imageforming device 40 and a holder 64 to hold a print material 60. Thedisplay device 20 comprises a digital data receiver 121 configured toreceive digital image data and a data control/driver 124 configured toselect and provide at least part of the received digital image data for3D printing. As shown in FIG. 13, the display device 20 has a digitaldisplay panel 21 having an image display area 23 arranged to display oneor more images indicative of the received digital image data, and alight source 18 to provide illumination to the digital display panel 21.Under the control of the data control/driver 124, the images may bedisplayed at one fixed location or displayed at a plurality oflocations, depending on the embodiments of the present invention. Thedigital display panel 21 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD), forexample. In one embodiment of the present invention, each of the imagesfor composing a 3D photograph has a plurality of color image components,such as red, green and blue image components. For providing illuminationfor printing a color 3D photograph, the light source 18 also has aplurality of corresponding color light components, such as red, greenand blue light components.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the liquid crystal devicecomprises a monochrome display panel configured to display one of thecolor image components at a time. In order to provide the correspondingone of the color light components to illuminate the monochrome displaypanel, a color/time control 109 may be used to select the correspondingcolor light component for illumination in a predetermined exposureperiod. For example, if a 3D photograph is composed of four projectedimages of four images formed at four different projection angles andeach image has red, green and blue image components, then the printingmay require twelve separate exposures. At each of the four projectionangles, the monochrome display panel is arranged to separately display,one at a time, the red, green and blue image components of a differentone of the four images, and the light source separately providescorresponding red, green and blue light components, each light componentprovided at a predetermined exposure period.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the print material 60comprises a lenticular sheet 70 having a plurality of lenticules 72facing the optical forming device 40. The print material 60 also has aphotosensitive layer or emulsion 80 adjacent to the bottom side of thelenticular sheet 70 (see FIG. 3C, for example). As known in the art, thephotosensitive layer or emulsion 80 is used to form latent images, whichcan turn into visible images after being chemically processed in aphotographic developing procedure, for example (see FIG. 18). Ingeneral, the color sensitivity of the photosensitive emulsion 80 iscolor dependent. Thus, each of the color light components may have adifferent exposure time, which can be selected and controlled by thecolor/time control 109.

As shown in FIG. 13, the display device 20 may have a condenser 19 thatis used to focus the light produced by the light source 18 on thedigital display panel 21. Thus, the condenser 19 may intensify theillumination provided to the digital display panel 21 and/or make theilluminating beam more even.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, one or moreof the display device 20, the optical image forming device 40 and theprint material 60 may be mechanically shifted to various positionsduring the 3D printing process for achieving different projectionangles, for example. Thus, the apparatus 10 a display shifter 110, alens shifter 142 and a paper shifter 160 arranged to mechanically movethe display device 20, the optical image forming device 40 and the paperholder 64 in a coordinated way. Each of the mechanical shifters can havea stepping motor or a servo motor, for example. In a differentembodiment of the present invention, the display device 20, the opticalimage forming device 40 and the print material 60 may be mechanicallylinked so that these apparatus components can be shifted proportionallyin their respective planes as shown in FIG. 15.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2C, during the 3D photo composing process,the projection angles must be changed in order to fill the lenticulebase with compressed images 82, 84, (see FIGS. 3A-3C). According toembodiments of the present invention, the projection angles can bechanged by changing the location of the print material 60 and thelocation of the optical image forming device 40 in relation to thelocation of the displayed image on the display panel in the displaydevice 20. There are at least five ways to achieve the differentprojection angles.

1) Keeping the print material 60 stationary and laterally shifting thedisplay device 20 and the optical image forming device 40 byproportionally different distances as shown in FIG. 14A. At differentprojection angles, different images 32, 34 and 36 are displayed atsubstantially the same location on the display panel in order to formdifferent compressed images 82, 84, 86 in each of the lenticules 72 inthe 3D photograph.

2) Keeping the print material 60 stationary and laterally shifting thedisplay device 20 and the optical image forming device 40 by samedistances as shown in FIG. 14B. At different projection angles,different images 32, 34 and 36 are displayed at different locations onthe display panel in order to form different compressed images 82, 84,86 in each of the lenticules 72 in the 3D photograph.

3) Keeping the display device 20 stationary and laterally shifting theprint material 60 and the optical image forming device 40 byproportionally different distances as shown in FIG. 14C. At differentprojection angles, different images 32, 34 and 36 are displayed atsubstantially the same location on the display panel in order to formdifferent compressed images 82, 84, 86 in each of the lenticules 72 inthe 3D photograph.

4) Keeping both the display device 20 and the optical image formingdevice 40 stationary and laterally shifting the print material 60 toproportionally different locations as shown in FIG. 14D. At differentprojection angles, different images 32, 34 and 36 are displayed atdifferent locations on the display panel in order to form differentcompressed images 82, 84, 86 in each of the lenticules 72 in the 3Dphotograph.

5) Keeping the optical image forming device 40 stationary and laterallyshifting the print material 60 and the display device 20 byproportionally; different distances as shown in FIG. 14E. At differentprojection angles, different images 32, 34 and 36 are displayed atsubstantially the same location on the display panel in order to formdifferent compressed images 82, 84, 86 in each of the lenticules 72 inthe 3D photograph.

To facilitate the shifting of the different components in theirrespective planes, the display device 20, the optical image formingdevice 40 and the print material 60 (fixedly located on a holder 64) canbe linked to different shifting devices as shown in FIG. 13.Alternatively, these components can be linked to a proportional leverand driven by a common stepping motor or servo motor (not shown). Inthis setup, two of the three components can be relatively shifted at thesame time. As shown in FIG. 15, the print material 60 is kept stationarywhile the display device 20 and the optical image forming device 40 areshifted to proportionally different distances on their respectiveplanes.

In some digital display panel 21, the pixel area in each of the pixelsmay not be substantially utilized such that when an image is displayedon the panel, there are inactive spaces or gaps between adjacent pixels.As a result, the projected image may also show blank spaces or gapsbetween adjacent pixels (see FIG. 16A). In order to improve the viewingquality of the 3D photograph, it may be desirable to at least partiallyfill in those blank spaces or gaps. Thus, in one embodiment of thepresent invention, an optical material 25 is used for pixel fillingpurposes. For example, the optical material 25 can be a sheet of clearmaterial, such as plastic or glass, or a polarizer sheet. For pixelfilling purposes, the optical material 25 can be tilted so as todisplace the light beam in a controlled amount by refraction as shown inFIG. 17, for example. As a result, the blank spaces or gaps in thepixels are reduced as shown in FIG. 16B.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the digital display panel 21comprises a monochrome display panel having a two-dimensional array ofpixels 27 as shown in FIG. 16A and each of pixel 27 has a pixel area 28configurable for transmitting light so as to form part of a monochromeimage, wherein the pixel area 28 is fixedly located in the pixel 27 orin the display panel, independently of color image component. In otherwords, the same pixel area is used to form a monochrome image regardlesswhether the monochrome image is a red color image component, a greencolor image component or a blue color image component.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the print material 60comprises a lenticular screen or sheet 70, a photosensitive emulsion 80and a supporting or backing layer 90 (see FIG. 3A, for example). Thebacking layer 90 can be porous so as to allow processing chemicals topass through in order to process the latent images into visible images.The print material can come in as a roll of sheet in a print materialsupply as shown in FIG. 18. The print material is provided to a printingstation for printing. The printing station may have one or moreapparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 13 for printing one 3D picture, or two ormore 3D pictures at the same time. After 3D printing, the exposed printmaterial (with latent images) is conveyed to a chemical processingstation for photographic developing and drying. The processed printmaterial in a sheet form is cut into individual 3D photographs. In adifferent embodiment, the print material in a sheet form can be cut intoindividual pieces before printing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the display device 20 is located on a first plane,the enlarging lens, projection lens or optical image forming device 40is located on a second plane, and the print material is located on athird plane. It should be noted that the shifting of the components onthese three planes is relative. For example, in the printing method asshown FIGS. 2A-2C, it is possible to keep the display device 20 and theoptical image forming device 40 stationary, while shifting the printmaterial 60 on the third plane so that the displayed images can beexposed onto the print material at various projection angles. In thisexample, only the component on one plane is shifted. It is also possibleto keep the print material 60 stationary, while shifting the displaydevice 20 on the first plane together with the optical image formingdevice 40 on the second plane. In this example, the components on twoplanes are shifted.

In the gap-filling method as shown in FIG. 9A, it is possible to keepthe display device 20 on the first stationary while shifting the opticalimage forming device 40 on the second plane and shifting the printmaterial 60 on the third plane. It is also possible to keep the opticalimage forming device 40 on the second plane stationary while shiftingthe display device 20 on the first plane and shifting the print material60 on the third plane. In the above-described two examples, thecomponents on two planes are shifted. However, it is possible that thecomponents on three planes are shifted.

Thus, although the present invention has been described with respect toone or more embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions anddeviations in the form and detail thereof may be made without departingfrom the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a digital displaydevice comprising an image display area located on a first plane, theimage display area arranged to display a plurality of images; an opticalimage forming device located on a second plane spaced from the firstplane, the optical image forming device arranged to project the imagesonto a print material at a plurality of projection angles; and a lightsource configured to provide one of a plurality of color lightcomponents to illuminate the digital display device at a time, whereineach of the images comprises a plurality of color image componentscorresponding to the plurality of color light components, and whereinthe digital display device comprises a monochrome panel configured toreceive digital image data and the image display area is configured todisplay a monochrome image of one of the plurality of color imagecomponents at a time indicative of the digital image data, and whereinthe monochrome panel is located between the light source and the secondplane such that said one of the plurality of color components isprovided corresponding to said one of the color image components.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the monochrome panel comprises aplurality of pixels arranged in a two dimensional array for forming themonochrome image, wherein each pixel comprises a pixel area configurableto transmit light in response to the digital image data, said pixel areafixedly located in the pixel independently of the color image component.3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the monochrome panelcomprises a liquid crystal display panel.
 4. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the color image components comprise red, green and blueimage components, and the color light components comprise red, green andblue light components.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a holder configured to hold the print material on a thirdplane spaced from the second plane and substantially parallel to thefirst plane such that the second plane is located between the firstplane and the third plane.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 5,wherein two of image display area, the optical image forming device andthe print material are arranged to shift substantially parallel to thethird plane for changing the projection angles.
 7. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a color selection deviceconfigured to select one of a plurality of color light components toilluminate the digital display device at a time.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said plurality of images comprisephotographic images of a scene taken at different viewing angles.
 9. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of imagescomprise one or more computer graphic images.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said plurality of images comprise one ormore text images.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theimage display area is dimensioned to display two or more of saidplurality of images at two or more locations.
 12. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the digital display device comprises oneor more additional monochrome panels located on different locations onthe first plane.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidplurality of images comprise a first image and a second image, and eachof the first image and the second image comprises an alignment point,wherein the digital display device is configured for electronicallyshifting at least one of the first image and the second image in theimage display area such that a projection image of the first image onthe print material and a projection image of the second image on theprint material are aligned at the alignment point.
 14. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the optical forming device comprises asingle aperture adjusted such that a projection image of each of saidplurality of images on the print material is formed through said singleaperture.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opticalforming device comprises a plurality of lenses arranged on the secondplane such that each of the lenses is used to project one of saidplurality of images at one of the plurality of projection angles. 16.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print material comprisesa plurality of lenticules, each of the lenticules having a lenticulebase, and wherein the projection image of each of said plurality ofimages is caused to form a different compressed image having an imagewidth at the lenticular base, wherein the each of the plurality ofprojection angles is adjusted so as to extend the image width of thedifferent compressed image.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 16,wherein each of the plurality of projection angles is adjusted byshifting at least two of the digital display device, the optical imageforming device and the printed material.
 18. The apparatus according toclaim 16, wherein each of the plurality of projection angles is adjustedby electronically shifting each of the plurality of images on the imagedisplay area and shifting one of the optical image forming device andthe printed material.
 19. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe print material comprises a plurality of lenticules, each of thelenticules having a lenticule base, and wherein said plurality of imagesare projected onto each of the lenticules to form compressed images atthe plurality of projection angles, wherein said plurality of imagescomprises a number of images and wherein the number is adjusted so thatthe compressed images substantially fill the lenticule base.
 20. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print material comprises alenticular screen, a backing layer and a photosensitive emulsion locatedbetween the lenticular screen and the backing layer, wherein the backinglayer is porous to processing chemicals so as to allow the processingchemicals to reach the photosensitive emulsion through the backinglayer.